State Department rep says jobs could be key to eradicating Islamic State

In an interview on MSNBC's daily talk show 'Hardball,' State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf suggested that an effective long-term campaign against the Islamic State will require addressing the region's socio-economic and political instability.

A man is comforted by others as he mourns over Egyptian Coptic Christians who were captured in Libya and killed on Feb. 16 by militants affiliated with the Islamic State. That same day, US State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said in an interview on MSNBC that an effective campaign against the militant group would have to include addressing socio-economic and political issues in the region.

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The key to stopping the Islamic State’s bloody march through Iraq and Syria? Jobs.

“We’re killing a lot of them, and we’re going to keep killing more of them,” Ms. Harf told host Chris Matthews. “But … we cannot kill our way out of this war. We need, in the longer term … to go after the root causes that [lead] people to join these groups.”

The debate between Matthews and Harf reflects a broader debate about the underlying causes of violent extremism and how to counter it. In a 2009 article in The SAIS Review for International Affairs, Middle East expert Omer Taspinar outlined two major views on the issue: The first proposes that educational and economic empowerment are the best cure against radicalization and terrorist recruitment.

“Since poverty and ignorance often provide a breeding ground for radicalism, socioeconomic development appears compelling as an effective antidote,” wrote Mr. Taspinar, a professor at the National War College and an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies.

There may be some truth to this position. A 2013 study by The Soufan Group, a New York-based security and research group, also found that when sending messages to potential recruits, extremist groups prey on feelings of anger, humiliation, resentment, and lack of purpose.

Interviews with recruits revealed that the militants’ ideology coupled with the promise of steady pay appealed to Turkey’s disaffected youths.

“When you fight, they offer $150 a day. Then everything else is free,” one former militant told the Times.

The other major perspective on violent extremism, Taspinar wrote, rejects the correlation between poverty and terrorism. Those who hold this view note that most terrorists “are neither poor nor uneducated,” and so see terrorism purely as a security threat that requires forceful action.

While both views have valid points, Taspinar argues that neither strategy alone will be successful. There’s no “one size fits all” solution, he wrote, because there’s no single cause or motivation for terrorism that can be pinpointed and eradicated.

His suggestion: Bridge the gap between the two perspectives by promoting policies and strengthening institutions that help crush radicalism.

That was in 2009. Many a pundit has since said the same, and during her “Hardball” interview, Harf acknowledged that there's no easy long-term solution to preventing and combating violent extremism.

“But,” she added, “if we can help countries work at the root causes of this – what makes a 17-year-old in these countries pick up an AK-47 instead of trying to start a business – maybe we can try to chip away at this problem.”